Man sentenced for injuring son in drunken lawn mower mishap

CORVALLIS, Ore. — An Oregon man who seriously injured his 7-year-old son in a lawn-mowing mishap has been sentenced to probation and must surrender his driver’s license for five years.

The Gazette-Times reports (https://is.gd/2gGEOo) Peter McManus of Corvallis was also ordered to undergo alcohol treatment and serve 20 days on a county work crew.

Authorities say McManus was driving a lawn mower while intoxicated on April 3. The boy was sitting on the hood of the machine when it hit something, possibly a rock. The child fell and his foot was severed by the blade. The foot could not be saved.

McManus pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. He did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing.

The boy’s mother spoke, asking for leniency. She said her son has been fitted with a prosthesis and spent the summer as a “happy and energetic child.”

The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.